Washington at Montreal

Capitals 5, Canadiens 1

MONTREAL -- Olaf Kolzig made sure that the Washington
Capitals' quick start paid off with a rare road victory.

Brian Sutherby scored twice and Kolzig made 43 saves, leading Washington
to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on
Saturday night.

Sutherby, Brian Willsie and Brooks Laich each scored before the midway
point of the first period. Chris Clark added a second-period goal for
the Capitals, who improved to 8-12-0 with their fifth regulation victory
of the season.

"We've had our share of troubles this year on the road and anytime you
can win in a place like Montreal, it's huge," Kolzig said.

Michael Ryder scored his team-leading ninth goal on a power play later
in the second for Montreal (13-4-3), which lost 5-3 in New Jersey one
night earlier. It is the first time this season the Canadiens have lost
consecutive games in regulation.

Montreal rookie Yann Danis made his second straight home start and
quickly found himself trailing 2-0 on pucks that he and teammate Mathieu
Dandenault inadvertently sent into their own goal.

"We had no emotion in the beginning, well actually, throughout the whole
game," Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said. "They got some lucky bounces
early on in the game and got the lead, but I think more than anything
this has been coming for a while. We've talked for a long time about
getting better, being more consistent and doing the little things."

Sutherby was credited with his third goal 23 seconds in when Danis
kicked out his left pad as the puck rebounded off the back boards,
sending it off his skate and into the net.

Willsie had similar good fortune when Dandenault reached out his stick
to take away a pass to Capitals winger Matt Pettinger. The Montreal
defenseman redirected the puck toward his own net and between Danis'
pads to put Washington up 2-0 at 5:54.

Laich made it 3-0 on a power play with his first NHL goal 9:20 in. Clark
increased the lead to 4-0 with his fourth goal 6:25 into the second.

"It was key tonight to get off to a good start and the guys answered the
bell," Capitals defenseman Brendan Witt said. "Now maybe we learn from
this that if we get off to good starts, we get rewarded."

Jose Theodore, who lost his third in a row Friday night, replaced Danis
at 9:10.

Theodore faced just three shots the rest of the way, allowing Sutherby's
second goal 14:16 into third on the only shot he faced in the period.

"I think if the puck goes an inch left, an inch right, I think we've got
ourselves a game and we've got them back on their heels," Dandenault
said of the two early goals.

"Kolzig played well also, he made some key saves, but I think it's just
not bearing down on our chances. Guys are trying, guys are working hard,
but it just didn't seem to go in."

The Capitals, who lost 8-5 in Buffalo on Thursday night, have won two of
three -- including a 4-3 shootout win Tuesday night over Tampa Bay --
following a three-game losing streak.

Capitals rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin failed to register a point
in the game, though 10 of his teammates did.